Boys water polo: Conant passes sectional test against Barrington

The third time turned out to be charming for Conant's boys water polo team.

Defeated twice by Barrington in the regular season, the Cougars nixed that narrative and produced a dominant defensive effort to win 9-3 against the Broncos in the championship game of the Schaumburg sectional on Saturday.

An important footnote to those two regular-season decisions: Neither one included Conant senior standout goalie Harris Dibek.

His presence made a big difference in this one, but so did a cumulative effort that sharply limited Barrington's scoring opportunities. And Conant reveled in the outcome, which ended three straight years of having been eliminated by Barrington in the postseason.

"I think it was our confidence, and just having better maturity than we've had in the past," said Conant coach Tim Daniel. "For us, it's taken some time to realize that we really can play with the better teams - that we belong."

There was little doubt about that by game's end.

Junior sharpshooter Alex Hirjoi got Conant started with a couple of long shots, and near the end of the second quarter, Dibek tossed a pool-length pass to Noah Lawson, who converted his chance. Second-period goals from Barrington's Ryan Cremer, Albert Mohr and Aiden Roth tied it at 3-3 before Hirjoi again sniped from long range to give Conant a 4-3 halftime lead.

The third quarter was decisive. Junior Bryan Cho started the scoring with a goal from the 2-meter spot, Hirjoi rifled in two more and Spencer Urban puncuated the period with a steal and score with :15 left.

All of that put Conant up 8-3, and another goal from Cho finished the scoring early in the fourth quarter.

Barrington (20-7), which has won the Mid-Suburban League the last two seasons, was trying for a second straight tip to state and a third in the last four seasons under a terrific run guided by coaches Rob Emary and Scott Krasinski.

Even this year, both teams feature juniors at many key positions, so don't be surprised to find the same squads battling it out for an opportunity to join the Elite Eight next season.

Barrington's Steven Fischer, one of those key juniors, drew constant double-teams from Conant. The Cougars' success in preventing goals from developing out of that matchup was one key.

"We've developed a better grasp of our 'help' defense," said Daniel. "But it's more than that - it's knowing what to do in a given situation, like after a shot's been taken and missed. I just felt like our guys were better prepared this time."

Conant (20-10) earns an appearance at 7 p.m. Thursday in the state quarterfinals against Lincoln-Way East. It will be the program's first Elite Eight test since the 2013 season, also under Daniel's watch.

"I think the only thing we were missing was experience," said Dibek, a three-year varsity starter. "The last couple of seasons we've had a lot of freshmen and sophomores playing, and that's tough to overcome. But we've also had a steady lineup for a while, and now all that experience starts to come into play in our favor."

Hirjoi said a key moment was late in the second quarter, after Barrington tied it at 3-3 on a crisp shot from Mohr.

"Maybe that's a point where, in the past, we might have lost some confidence," Hirjoi said. "This time, we just all looked at each other and said, 'We can do this.' "